Kensei Ma
Kensei is the lecherous master of all Chinese martial arts, who prefers to fight using soft forms and currently one of the six masters of Ryozanpaku. Appearance Kensei can be described as a fairly short middle aged man, who is balding. He wears typical chinese clothing used in martial arts with a hat to cover his bald head. In his youth he Kensei was very handsome, the the point of being called a bishounen, and was popular with women. Personality Kensei is most often seen attempting to take revealing pictures of beautiful women (especially Shigure and Miu), which often earns him the wrath of the pair, though this does nothing to deter him from the habit. His perverted behavior has even gotten worse as the series progresses, such that whenever he fights a female opponent he wants to use his "Ma Style Restriction technique", which is basically where he ties them up with their own clothes. He is proven to be very persistent, as he repeats his perverted antics on a daily basis, despite dangerous traps set by Shigure near the spa, where she and Miu takes a bath. He even made a picture book of Miu which he sold for a profit to Kenichi (he said he has one of Shigure too) and convinced Kenichi to move into the dojo by introducing the prospect of developing his relationship with Miu, demonstrating good salesmenship. Akisame commented that he could 'sell ice to eskimos'. In contrast with his present-day image, he was said to be a charming and handsome young man in his youth, and was very popular with women. This came to a shock to Kenichi, who then sympathized with his aging master, who bluntly refused to accept the sympathy. Under all of this however, he is shown to be a very kind and wise person at heart who seems saddened at the violent uses of Martial Arts in the world, wishing the world could be more peacful (and perverted) which was perhaps borne from his own estranged relationship with his brother. In battle, he prefers to disable enemies without lethal force, only foregoing this practice when fighting other Master class Martial Artists. Kenichi also states that despite all of Kensei's character flaws, they were "nothing compared to the greatness of Master Ma" and readily admits that he had never doubted Kensei even once. As noted by Kenichi, he has a habit of yelling "Chowa" whenever he fights. History Later in the series, Kensei is revealed to have a wife and three kids, including a 16-year-old daughter named Renka Ma, who followed him from China. Kensei was actually the leader of an elite martial arts alliance in China, made up of thousands of students. However, he viewed the responsibilities as a nuisance, so he left it all to his wife, and moved to Japan where he operates an acupuncture clinic. He also has an older brother, Sougetsu and an uncle, Ryo. During the DofD tournament, Ma Kensei reveals to Kenichi his history with the Three Headed Dragon team of Kaku Shin Ten (Taichi), Chou Yin Lin (Bagua), and Yo Tekai (Shin Yi) who all hail from the Black Tiger White Dragon Alliance in China, a rival organization of Kensei's Phoenix Martial Artists Alliance. He apparently meet them when they tried to attack his school. Kensei quickly defeated all of them, however he is impressed with their potiential as martial artists, espeically with Kaku, and made him a propostion to become his apprentice. Kaku turned down the offer and left with nothing but anger and hatred for Kensei ever since. Ragnarok Arc Kensei is first shown popping up from under a tatami mat in Shigure's room, taking pictures of her undergarments. He effortlessly catches the shuriken she throws in his hands and mouth (in the anime, he dodges around them just as easily). He first charges Kenichi 20000 Yen a month, but Kenichi's inability to pay forces him to decrease it to 10000 Yen, and finally to 5000. Upon hearing Kenichi's anger at being defeated by Tsukuba and wanting to pay him back, Kensei decides to teach him techniques as well, though, like the other masters, is very careful about this as doing so will drag Kenichi into the dark world of martial arts they so often went through in their previous years. He implants his first skill, Ugyuu Haitou, to Kenichi, demonstrating its use by catching Miu's kick and rubbing his head under her breasts, something Kenichi also manages to imitate shortly after seeing its use. Kensei's teachings see further use as he teaches Kenichi a windmill-like move and orders him to walk around the whole town doing that. This move demonstrates its use against the Kicker Koga, who falls upon being hit by Kenichi's punch. Kensei arrives just as Takeda rescues Kenichi from Tsuji and his thugs, destroying the bridge on which the thugs tried to run and cutting off their means of chase. When Kenichi is informed of the master-disciple training that would ensue from the next level of his teachings and is dubious of taking them up, Kensei convinces him to do so as it would allow him to further develop his relationship with Miu. During this period, Kensei teaches him the Sotenshu and the principle of punching as "sending ones fist out so that it feels like it's going to fly off". The latter principle later goes to use into Kenichi's Mubyoshi. Kensei is later seen watching Kenichi's battle with Ryuto and comments at his imitation that he doesn't say "Chowa" as often as Kenichi's imitation implies. He later stops Ogata from stopping the battle, along with the other masters of Ryozanpaku. Yomi Arc D of D tournament Kensei feels that Kaku can still change deep down and after Kenichi beats him, he tends to Kaku and his teammates' wounds. He gives them his symbol for the Phoenix Martial Artists Alliance as his gift to them and says that when Kaku, Chou, and Yo become stronger proposes that they see him again. He leaves Kaku and his team than as Kaku crys while his team cheers him up by saying that they are still a team no matter what. This makes Kensei feel that Kaku will become a better person in time. In the fight against Diego Carlo, the Angry 'Steel' Fist, Ma emerges as the winner after some difficulty. Much of the first part of the match involves Ma staying still while Diego runs around him. Neither attack each other because of the lack of openings in either opponent, causing the audience to boo them. Ma rages at the audience for acting like children when its members demand to see some carnage. He also casts sideways glances at Rachel every time she is exposed by Renka. When Renka gets exposed, Ma counterattacks Diego, who expects Ma to be distracted by his daughter. Ma is then kept in the air by his opponent, as Diego claims that Lucha Libre can defeat anything in the air. However, Ma reaches the ground and uses his signature move to defeat the wrestler, saying that earth belongs to Chinese Kung Fu. Okinawa American Base He and other Ryouzanpaku members enter a American war base under Yami's control upon vacationing to Okinawa. The elder distracts the soldiers while the rest of the masters approach the main building. Later he is seen "battling" Akisame with Jankenpon to decide which one gets to fight Kyoken no Iyazoi, as initially, Akisame wanted to take on the one with the more elegant style while Ma would take the rougher one, but Ma's realization of the elegant samurai's true gender and his desire to use his "Ma-style Restriction Technique" on her puts him in conflict with Akisame. With the last of his resolution in his last move in Jankenpon, Ma turns his "paper" into "rock", defeating Akisame and allowed to pick the female samurai as his opponent at the cost of the use of his right arm. The use of only one arm quickly turns against Ma, as his new opponent expresses only the eagerness to cut him up. Ma receives a few minor cuts while ripping off his opponent's skirt and stripping her of her bra without taking off the armor first, and folds the two articles of clothing on the floor in a perverted manner, much to the distaste of his opponent. After she strips off her armor, she tries to attack him, but Ma breaks her helmet while she cuts his hat in two. Draping his robe around her shoulders, he explains that he intended to break the armor around her heart, and easily smashes her against the wall with his left hand during the blackout. In the manga, his surname is pronounced Ba. In the anime and some translations of the manga, it is changed to Ma, possibly because this is the usual Chinese pronunciation. Relationships 'Kenichi' He develop a close fatherly relationship with Kenichi, though mistreats him comically like everyone else does. He also knows Kenichi better than the others due to the fact that he is usually the one who ends up convincing him to cooperate with their plans, such as when he convinced Kenichi to move into Ryōzanpaku, and will occasionally swindle him into buying the perverted pictures he takes (in the DofD arc, Kenichi states that all he ever receives are pictures of Tochumaru posing). Kenichi still admits that he never doubted his training methods or beliefs as a master despite his perversion and sly personality, further demonstrating his bond with Kenichi as master and disciple. 'Renka' His relationship with his daughter is not very much a pleasant one, as Kensei said himself that he did not want to acquiesce to his daughter's wishes of returning back to China. Renka herself has vowed to bring him back to China by any means, though her attraction to Kenichi prompts her to stay in Japan. Much of Kensei's perversions often result in Renka's embarassment. However, she is the only good-looking girl who he will not spy on or do perverted things to, as he says during his battle with Diego Carlo that "She is my daughter! I got bored of looking at those (implied to be her breasts) when she was a baby!" Though Renka once tricked and hog tied Kensei when she waved her bare leg from a corner (he didn't know it was Renka). Akisame Kensei gets along with Akisame as one of the more senior masters of Ryozanpaku, and even offers advice on his machines (he had the belt and the low-traction flooring removed from the large hamster wheel used to train Kenichi). Along with Sakaki, he and Akisame frequently challenge each other to games of Jankenpon, often with the result of various draws. In addition to seniority and wisdom of the world around them, both of them get along by means of occupation: Kensei practices acupuncture and Akisame fixes bones. The two of them are also some of the only masters who are able to blend in with normal people, having been raised in a normal society themselves. Sakaki Much of Kensei's interactions with Sakaki involve him playing Jankenpon, in a three-way battle with Akisame, and sometimes a four-way battle with Apachai included. During this time, much of their games result in ties, with their fast reactions being barely a notch above each other. This is the primary deciding factor of their "battles", where they try not to compete directly with their own martial arts. Miu Kensei frequently targets her as the victim of his perverted antics, often earning her wrath. Needless to say, Kensei has gained respect from her, as she recognizes the extent to which his perverted techniques are put to use efficiently in the Katsujin Ken, such as his Ma style restriction technique, which Kenichi has also used against Li Raichi. Sougetsu In the past, Kensei was one of Sougetsu's only friends, as he was feared by everybody who saw him. The two rarely spent time together, however, as Sougetsu mainly practiced martial arts in his youth and drank with his younger brother. This relationship of brotherhood deteriorated in the present to a point where both of them saluted each other with their right palm and left fist in the mafia base, indicating a desire to kill each other. He still cares about his brother, however, as he claims after defeating him that he would "at least let his brother die as a martial artist". Techniques Kakei: A Taichi technique and a defensive maneuver. Ma uses a spinning motion in his arms to neutralize or minimize the force of his opponents attacks. Sei Shin Suikyou Shou (Penetrating Water Surface Palm): '''A palm strike that can blast away all the water in a hotspring and destroys both a person's body and internal organs. Ironically, when he used it on the hotspring during the demonstration, Miu was (unknown to him) using it at the time. He uses a double palm version (Sei Shin Suikyou Soushou) to defeat Diego Carlo. ohsdk_332_s2.jpg qhsdk_333_ss.12.jpg|Sei Shi Suikyou Shou being used against Diego '''Ma-Style Restriction Technique: A perverted technique put to use against female fighters. Ma uses his opponent's clothes to restrain his opponent, often exposing her undergarments in the process. Taiho Shouha: 'A last resort move, only usable when the body is completely exhausted. The user steps back and attacks with the opponents own power. Battle Log 'Battles past vs members of Black Tiger White Dragon Alliance ( won ) vs Chinese Maffia ( probably won ) Battles present vs Ma Sougetsu ( won ) vs Li Tenmon ( won ) vs Russian soldiers ( won ) vs Rachel Stanley ( no winner, only did perverted things to her ) vs Diego Carlo ( won ) vs Yami bow women ( won ) vs Kyouken no Izayoi ( won ) Category:History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi character Category:Katsujinken Category:Ryōzanpaku Category:Master